First rule of thumb though, for anyone looking to become indispensable: don't wait for someone else to give you the permission to find the solution - take initiative - try something. In other words, don't just sit there, do something.

"There are no longer any great jobs where someone else tells you precisely what to do."

~Seth Godin

Try something. Experiment. Ask for help. Do the work.

All that sounds simple, easy even, but with our lizard brain getting in the way (that ego!) our fear stops us in our tracks. Sometimes it is easier to just sit there and wait. Wait for someone else to give us the answer and tell us what we're supposed to do with the project, at work, in our lives.

But we each have to make our own choices. And choices require action. And courage. Doing something.

My charge for you today: Don't just sit there, waiting for change, do something. One small thing, that moves you to where you want to go. Right now.

From Louise Erdrich's book, The Painted Drum

Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could.

Remember that its connected. Life's sweeter moments are those that we made happen in spite of the fear, pain, rejection and perceived failures. So we have celebration, triumph, joy.

How about them apples?

• Do you love reading business books?
• Do you love talking about the books you've read?
• Do you love to share what you know with others?

Then join us in Seattle, next Tuesday (2/9) at 6pm at the It's-Not-Just-Business Bookclub!

Check out all the details and join us for some fun learning!

"Books can be dangerous.  The best ones should be labeled "This could change your life."  ~Helen Exley

My clients are like that too. That makes me smile. Big. My intention and hope is to get more people to smile and make intention and service a part of what they do everyday. It's not a muscle that many of us are used to moving (or maybe we don't even know how to get started).

Well, these guys have found a way - a very inspiring way. It's called Smove, or rather Smile & Move. It's a movement. It's something we can all learn to do, in 9 simple ways, to create more ways to inspire intentional actionfor us, for our teams, for our families and friends. Check out this video - and SMOVE your way into the new year!

The 9 simple ways to smile & move:

1. Wake-up - engage with care and attention
2. Be thankful - the opportunity to serve is a gift.
3. Be approachable - we're at each other's service.
4. Complain less - being positive is more fun.
5. Smile. Really- it's where pleasantness begins.
6. Start early and go long - get lost in your service to others.
7. Exceed expectations - expect more from yourself.
8. Have a sense of urgency - everyone's time is valuable.
9. Be resourceful and resilient - results are what we're all after.

You can find more information about this inspirational work on their website.

Visionary companies may appear strait-laced to outsiders, but they're not afraid to make bold commitments to Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs).

Like climbing Mt. Everest, going to the moon, putting a computer on every desk (sound familiar?), a BHAG can sound daunting, risky and maybe even dangerous...

... but the adventure, excitement, and challenge of it grabs people in the gut, gets their juices flowing and creates immense forward momentum. - Dan Zadra

2010 is the year to think big.After the last two years of status quo and major shifts in some paradigms, its time. And I believe it's high time to go BIG.

I'm inspiring my friends, family and clients (and myself!) to dream big, think big and then start taking baby steps, one small intentional action at a time, to make those things happen. I'm coaching people to get them inspired and wired to make things happen.

You can do it too. Your friends, family, clients, co-workers. Some ways to get you started.

1. Get clear about what you want. Crystal clear. Make a list of all that you want. Be specific.
2. Make sure it pertains to you. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Make sure what you want is something you can effect.
3. Believe you can have it. Trust that it will arrive and know that it might not look like what you think it should.
4. Be grateful for what you already have. Say thank you. Over and over. Smile.
5. Build your community. Share your goal, your inspiration, your requests, your success. The universe does it all the time. What you put out, comes back to you (at least I think so). We help make that happen by sharing with others and that means giving and receiving.

Where do you want to go? What BIG things do you want? Share them!

'Tis the season and all that. And there's never a better time to start than now.

Because you're already here.

What to dive into 2010 with all your ducks in a row? What to jump start your BHAGs and get started now? Join me in January get to going full speed ahead!

So when I was asking myself what I could really do to serve my customers, and when I say customers, I mean the folks I coach who are in leadership positions - I realized we were essentially asking ourselves the same thing this week.

How can we better engage with our customers for more sustainable success?

What arrived in an email was the answer, from Jim Champy, a fellow consultant and best-selling author. He layed out his 9 steps (or keys) to a more customer-centric organization and what it takes to keep people engaged (and that goes for employees too).

1. Relationships reign.  The top companies spend face time with their clients (and leaders with their people). No shortcuts here.
2. Perspective prevails.  Zipcar doesn’t see themselves in the automobile rental business.  They are in the shared ownership business.  This gives them an entirely new frame of reference (and opportunities) than Enterprise, Hertz, Alamo, or Avis.
3. Customers are king.  Unless you are proud of running a top-down, bureaucratic company, you must engage your customers in every aspect of your planning and marketing activity. Because they are already there.
4. Calm empowers.  People will reward you handsomely for grace under pressure. Just look at Colin Powell. Cool, calm and collected.
5. Innovation opens opportunity.  What activities are you hosting to open creative channels and reward better ways of doing business? In these tough  times, we’ll get more out of expansive thinking, instead of constant fire-fighting.
6. Know your values. If you’re confused between delivering high quality and who your customer is, you might choose to spend in the wrong places and invest in the wrong direction.  Don’t let poor decision became urban legend.
7. Everyone plays.  You are no longer in charge of your brand or your marketing plan. Your entire community contributes to it. Just ask United Airlines after the “United Breaks Guitars” video reached all corners of the universe (thank you YouTube).
8. Authenticity is essential.  Your clients and employees define who you are, and what you stand for, in every community. Protecting your client feedback as confidential information will be trumped by vehicles such as Yelp.

What are you doing to engage your customers/employees for more success?

Listening is a good start...

And being open to opportunity is another.

9 out of 10 people say they are more productive around positive people.

So why are there still some managers that insist on ruling by fear? 

"…love is a verb. Love -- the feeling -- is a fruit of love, the verb.

...Reactive people make [love] a feeling...

… Proactive people make love a verb. Love is something you do: sacrifices you make, the giving of self, like a mother bringing a newborn in to the world...

...Love is a value that is actualized through loving actions. " (7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey, pg. 80).

This was a business book. A book I was reading to help my executive coaching clients become more effective. What was he doing talking about 'L-O-V-E'. Was I one of those people that was being 'reactive'? (At that moment, yes).

So much of our language these days is reactive. And it's becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. I hear my clients, my friends, family and associates using language that is reactive and then producing evidence to support the belief. There is an increased feeling of being a victim and out of control, not in charge of their life or their destiny. It's no surprise the blame falls to outside themselves (other people, circumstances, even astrology) for a situation of their own making.

But how do we change that?

Start noticing where and how often you're doing it. Some phrases you might hear yourself (or someone else) make that are Reactive:

• "There's nothing I can do about it."
• "She makes me so mad."
• "He won't allow that."
• "I can't."
• "If only."
• "That's just the way things are."

You know what? Those statements absolve the person saying them of any responsibility. Yet, aren't we responsible? We don't live in the paradigm of determinism (all circumstances are out of our control). We determine what happens.

Here are some ways to make the language Proactive:

• "Let's look at the alternatives." (What can I do to shift things?)
• "I control my own feelings." (She knows how to push my buttons, but it's my choice to get mad.)
• "I can create an effective presentation." (I can make a different choice, consider alternatives.)
• "I choose." (Because we always have a choice.)
• "I will." (I choose to.)
• "I can choose a different approach." (Because there's always another way.)

Over the last few years I have become a MASTER at proactive statements and positive thinking. Many of my friends and clients comment on it ("Your positivity is infectious!", "You always come up with the silver lining", "Are you always so positive?"). After working in a high-stress, high tech company, I had to start making different choices if I wanted to be able to survive, or even thrive. One of those choices, was to remind myself, I always had a choice.

My biggest choice was to do something I loved, in a way I loved doing it. I stopped being reactive and started being a whole lot more proactive.

I went and make love a verb.

What can you do to be proactive? What do you already do that is?

Join me for a Small Group, Proactive, tele-coaching program. 4 weeks. Better habits. Better results. Breakthroughs. Starts Monday the 16th. 2 Spots left.

Looking back, looking forward, thinking big. By Sylvia Taylor

Intention is the compass, goals are the map. We need both. Goals help keep us focused and intentions keep us on the right map.

I look back at my 30 Day Challenge: Fit or Fat by 40, and realize that it was about time and choosing to put time in my calendar to be physically active for at least 30 minutes, everyday, 7 days a week. That's a lot to ask, and a challenge for me. I had to keep it a priority, as big a priority as a client meeting. And yet, it was just for me, so I could make the choice to cancel it, since no one would know but me. However, I also made the choice, the commitment, that this was something important to me and I had to give it the time (to put my money where my mouth was).

See how that works? I made the choice to give it time. It's important, so I supported myself to make it happen, by putting it in my calendar and following through.

You know the funny thing? My biggest learning came from intention: I had intended to blog about the experience. I blogged twice.  And that intention, without a structure or support, completely fell through. I ran out of time and it kept getting put on the back burner. But what a gift! Now I know it's something I need to schedule and to create a block of time to get it done.

So, what intention have you had for a while and not done anything about? What intention or goal have you had that didn't get the right structure or support to help make it happen? Start over. Try again.

You can also join me for a 4 week Tele-class (starts next Monday, only 2 spots left) that can help you make big breakthroughs with this kind of stuff. You'll learn a lot about intention, setting inspired goals, creating structure and support to get it all (and more) done. In only 4 weeks. And you'll be able to keep the learning going long after the 4 weeks is over.

The year isn't over yet. Here's to getting more done and following through on our intentions.

The size of success is limited only by the size of your thinking. Thinking big begins with believing big.

~David Schwartz

The 'run-down' (pun intended):

Day 1 - Running with faster-than-me-friend. She was impressed! Yay! I kept up the running for nearly 5 minutes (yes, that's minutes, not miles...). Then with lots of encouragement I went for another go of 5, got to about 3 and by the end of the 2.4 miles was walking. Not so bad. Good weather helped.

Lesson learned: Start out slow, go your own pace and you'll finish the race (or whatever you set out to do).

Challenge: Didn't drink enough water. Got a massive headache that lasted all day. Maybe I should add this to lessons learned? I wasn't nearly aware enough of my thirst level. My mouth might not have been 'thirsty', but my muscles were. More water through-out the day next time!

Day 2 - Running with just myself. Miscommunication with my running buddy, which was a blessing in disguise! I went anyway, shorter route, 1.97 miles and a heckva lot slower (speed walking!). I was racing the rain (keeping out of it) and trying to make my legs that felt like cement, move. Finished off with stretch and lots of water! Ok, two glasses of water...

Lesson learned: It's early days, but I *can* motivate myself to go do something even if I'm not being obligated into doing it! Yay me! Now to remember this for Day 15...

Challenge: Without a running buddy to distract myself I focused a lot on the pain in my sore muscles. Since I'm in the habit of letting myself off the hook I need to find something to support me on the days I don't have a buddy. Music! I think it's time to get out the iPod!

Day 3 - Yoga Day. I'm grateful that I've had instruction in Yoga before and have some great videos at home. However, I did run into a slight problem being that they are VHS and my TV is in the basement with only a 6 foot clearance. Not an issue if you are sitting down, but a problem if you are doing stretches upward...

Not a big hurdle! I just went to my friend Lesley Hobbs website: www.LesleyHobbsYoga.com and checked out her Yoga for Athletes(or wannabes!). I put on some Shamanic Dream and followed the pictures (some pop-up bigger in case you can't seem them). She tells you how long to hold the pose (how many breathes) and if you need any props. I think this is fine for today, but I might go check out a Yoga class at the YMCA up the road too.

Lesley Hobbs pracitcing a yoga pose. Looks fun!

Lesson learned: Stretching my sore muscles hurt at first, but feels so much better now. I also feel more connected to my intention, which is not to loose weight (though that would be a nice effect), but to stick to moving and being in my body for 30 days. I'm always in my head, it's time to give my body equal billing!

Challenge: I'm having a bit of guilt early on about sweating. I didn't sweat in Yoga and I don't think it's necessary I do, however I would like to make sure that I'm making incremental progress.

Anyone want to weigh-in on how to know that you're doing that with Yoga?

And if you have thoughts on guilt, that would be good too.

What are you all doing? Anyone getting started on a 30 Day Challenge of their own? Share your story here, get support and have fun!

Looking forward to Day 4 (more running) and Day 5 - Dance!